Arvest Investments Inc. Makes New Investment in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Arvest Investments Inc. bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 40,654 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,779,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth $8,134,000. BTC Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 42,999 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,882,000 after buying an additional 7,119 shares in the last quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth $6,694,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 46.8% during the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 1,152,151 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,430,000 after buying an additional 367,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,974,434 shares of the bank’s stock worth $217,781,000 after buying an additional 805,758 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of CFG opened at $41.34 on Thursday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.06 and a 1-year high of $49.25. The stock has a market cap of $18.07 billion, a PE ratio of 13.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 12.21% and a return on equity of 6.75%. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is 55.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.22.

About Citizens Financial Group

Citizens Financial Group, Inc operates as the bank holding company that provides retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, corporations, and institutions in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking.